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There's this: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/projectone#model/madone7seriesteamedition

  Or if you must have a car, you can go with a Tesla, which is mostly powered by self-satisfaction but also requires electricity, which you can at least arrange to buy from (appropriately) a wind farm, e.g. http://www.communityenergyinc.com/.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/town/urban_utility

Just so you know, some of the best bicycles now have belt drives and up to 14-speed internal hub gears.

Yep, most Treks are made in Taiwan. http://www.trekbikes.com/faq/questions.php?questionid=90
The highest-end models are made in the US.

"this kind of manufacturing is still incredibly slow and expensive. This is still proof of concept for consumer items"

Spoken like a non-cyclist. The most lucrative market in bicycles isn't cheap commodity bikes like Schwinns, it's in lightweight road enthusiast and racing bikes. Price isn't the determining factor, which is why bicycle companies can charge thousands for carbon fiber frames.

Besides, if adopted, economy of scale would drop price dramatically. Prototypes are always more expensive than real-world products. CINC machines used to cost millions. Now I know a guy with one in his home's garage - he machines custom CAD-designed copper evaporator heads for phase-change computer cooling units.

electric assist can easily carry lumber. If you need to move a couch, rent a truck. Renting a truck once or twice a year to move furniture is dirt cheap in comparison to fueling a vehicle that can on an every day basis. Cold? jacket. Hot? Stop being so damn fat. More than a few kms? See hot.

And if that is too pricey for you this will mount on any bike and carry said cargo in a much cheaper fashion. Lumber, groceries, and all.

Sure, large vehicles are handy but an enormous majority of the time our trips are a few kms or less and are not carrying any cargo. You may as well make the choice now before the cost of oil does it for you.

tafkadasoh:
    First, full disclosure: I am employed by Trek Bicycle Corp, but my statements don't necessarily reflect my company's opinions. And I'm not in engineering or design (just an IT guy), so I'm no expert on the products. However...

Some of your answers can be found here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/why_electric_assist/

The e-bikes primary advantage would not be for people going on "long tours". But if you're a city commuter, the electronic assist can allow you to make the commute in a reasonable amount of time with reduced effort. Why is reduced effort important? Well, the rest of the cyclists may have to bring a change of clothes and shower when they reach their destination. But if you've got an e-bike, you may even be able to accomplish your commute sweat-free. Cyclists who have to bring a backpack or pannier containing a change of clothes can appreciate this.

If you want to do a "long tour", you can remove the battery and ride w/o the assist (on Trek e-bikes, anyhow). As for concerns regarding parts, the standard Trek warranty covers all Ride+ models. Additionally, "electric components are covered for 2 years or 600 charge cycles (battery), whichever comes first."
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/faqs/

Since your comments have mentioned measurements in metric (unlike us backwards Americans), you may find a Trek website to fit your country / language here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/

tafkadasoh:
    First, full disclosure: I am employed by Trek Bicycle Corp, but my statements don't necessarily reflect my company's opinions. And I'm not in engineering or design (just an IT guy), so I'm no expert on the products. However...

Some of your answers can be found here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/why_electric_assist/

The e-bikes primary advantage would not be for people going on "long tours". But if you're a city commuter, the electronic assist can allow you to make the commute in a reasonable amount of time with reduced effort. Why is reduced effort important? Well, the rest of the cyclists may have to bring a change of clothes and shower when they reach their destination. But if you've got an e-bike, you may even be able to accomplish your commute sweat-free. Cyclists who have to bring a backpack or pannier containing a change of clothes can appreciate this.

If you want to do a "long tour", you can remove the battery and ride w/o the assist (on Trek e-bikes, anyhow). As for concerns regarding parts, the standard Trek warranty covers all Ride+ models. Additionally, "electric components are covered for 2 years or 600 charge cycles (battery), whichever comes first."
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/faqs/

Since your comments have mentioned measurements in metric (unlike us backwards Americans), you may find a Trek website to fit your country / language here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/

tafkadasoh:
    First, full disclosure: I am employed by Trek Bicycle Corp, but my statements don't necessarily reflect my company's opinions. And I'm not in engineering or design (just an IT guy), so I'm no expert on the products. However...

Some of your answers can be found here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/why_electric_assist/

The e-bikes primary advantage would not be for people going on "long tours". But if you're a city commuter, the electronic assist can allow you to make the commute in a reasonable amount of time with reduced effort. Why is reduced effort important? Well, the rest of the cyclists may have to bring a change of clothes and shower when they reach their destination. But if you've got an e-bike, you may even be able to accomplish your commute sweat-free. Cyclists who have to bring a backpack or pannier containing a change of clothes can appreciate this.

If you want to do a "long tour", you can remove the battery and ride w/o the assist (on Trek e-bikes, anyhow). As for concerns regarding parts, the standard Trek warranty covers all Ride+ models. Additionally, "electric components are covered for 2 years or 600 charge cycles (battery), whichever comes first."
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/rideplus/faqs/

Since your comments have mentioned measurements in metric (unlike us backwards Americans), you may find a Trek website to fit your country / language here:
http://www.trekbikes.com/

Talk to someone at a Trek dealer. You'll be much better served. http://locator.trekbikes.com/locator/search.

I read this and thought of cycling.

Guess I must still be new here.

Am I the only one who immediately thinks about cycling when a slashdot title includes "Trek" sans "Star"? And does that mean I have to turn in my membership punchcard?

I know we're talking about the TDF and those guys are on a different plane of existence here but there's something I've got to say about some non-pro cyclists out there.

While I agree that the use of technology is important in cycling, there's only so much one can do without having to rely on natural talent and training. Spending $180 for a 13 cm piece of metal in order to save 50 grams, is a problem. I see it with the guys I ride with. They'll spend a shit load of cash on a Litespeed titanium bike or a Trek 5200 but will still mow down a pizza after a ride and not think about the fact that they can get over those hills a little faster if they weren't carrying a anchor on their gut.

Lance et al have spent a lot of time in wind tunnels reducing drag (see Trek). I watched a bunch of the Lance Chronicles on OLN. One significant source of drag they discovered- the race numbers on their backs. All riders have their number attached to their jersey on their lower back, on both sides (as seen here). They found that the number caused significant drag, and they were quite unhappy that there was no way to design a sharkskin suit or the like to include the number. Technology taken down by paper!

You make an excellent point about modern traffic being an unmitigated disaster...and you're dead right. If you haven't read The Immortal Class by Travis Hughley, I suggest you do. It's a book that starts off as the bio of a bike messenger, but it quickly builds into something important -- an examination of modern cities and what's wrong with them.

He's right, too -- modern cities in America had their roads laid out before the advent of the automobile, and as such aren't able to maintain the large amounts of traffic that pass through them.

I think there's more to it, though -- I think that the suburbs are a key issue...you have this little insular enclaves where it's safe for the breeders to raise their progeny away from the "harsh reality" of the city. We've created a situation where for people to get where their jobs are, they need either private transportation or good public transportation...and most cities in the U.S. are SEVERELY lacking in the latter. So cars it is.

I can't believe Kamen (and Jobs and all the other investors) thought that the Segway was a good idea. No protection from the elements (let's see anyone use one in Minneapolis in February), big, clunky, a target for theft, you can't put blinged-out rims on it, no room for a subwoofer...shit sorry about that, hit the Eminem track in my iPod... Anyway, the things are totally impractical and priced well outside the means of most commuters. $5000? You can get a beautiful custom Seven Axiom Titanium for that, or you could buy a cheaper Trek and still have money left to pay off those pesky credit cards, get a gym membership and buy a stack of Playstation2 games.

If you plan on doing any long distance driving the Civic GX is definately not the car for you as most of the country does not have these special stations (I'm near the chicago area).

The Toyota, although it has the lowest fuel efficiency, is the more spacious than the Insight. It is also a safer car (assuming you drive on the freeway), which is very important.

I would never recommend the Insight, it is a terrible car considering the alternatives.

Another couple options are the Civic Hybrid (which uses unleaded gas), great mileage, reliability of a Civic, safety of a sedan, and spacious enough to haul a couple weeks worth of luggage for four (depending on how heavily you pack). Also there are going to be more hybrid SUV's and other larger vehicles: Ford HEV-2003, as well as a Saturn SUV-2004, Chevy Pickup-2004, Suburban-2005, and Dodge Ram Pickup-2005 , which will be great for those of us who want a bigger, safer car, while being good stewards of our environment.

Then there's my favorite, a Trek Bike.

Titanium has been used in high-end bicycles for some time. Litespeed and Merlin are the two big original manufacturers, although some others have come on board. Ti's pretty hard to work, though, so Joe's Bike Shop and Espresso isn't going to be able to buy the kit necessary to work it.

Litespeed cold works a lot of their tubing, which they say creates a stronger tube. They make some breath-taking bikes. And they're breath-takingly expensive, too, believe me.

For some time now people have been arguing the relative benefits of different bike materials. For most of bike history it was steel, but steel's heavy, plus it rusts. You're lucky to get a steel frame under 5 pounds. Some people still swear by the loose feel of a steel bike, but steel is on its way out. Because it's so damn heavy you can't make a really stiff bike from steel - tube stiffness squares as diameter doubles.

This is a win for aluminum, and the reason Cannondale can make such fat-tube aluminum bikes. The Litespeed Blade (Ti) has skinny, horizontally stiff and very aero tubing, but it's not so laterally stiff. Let me tell you, when you weigh 220 and you really pound on the pedals, you appreciate the extra width of aluminum tubing. Some people think it's too stiff, though. A nice aluminum frame (like mine, even if it's a few years old) can weigh 2.75 pounds. Unreal.

Carbon fiber has gotten big lately, too. Tell me this doesn't make your mouth water. That's right - it's got no seat tube. No way can you do that with any metal. Carbon's frighteningly light, but fragile - little scratches really build up and can adversly affect the frame. If you T-bone a carbon bike, one of two things will happen: (a) nothing, (b) you're walking home carrying $2,500 worth of plastic. Trek makes a lot of carbon bikes, including the one Lance Armstrong has been dominating the Tour with. That frame weighs 2.25 pounds.

Trouble is, the start-up cost for a carbon bike fab is astronomical - higher than any other material. If you want a custom frame, you're likely SOL. This is where Ti shines - custom frames are almost as easy as steel.

Thus endeth the lesson :)

I was a soft and flabby engineer who worked too many hours, ate too much, and got no exercise at all. About 2 months ago, I bought a decent recumbent (invested around $800 in it so far), that I ride 3-4 miles each way to/from work. Now I'm a soft and flabby engineer who works too many hours, eats too much, and has great legs. Not a bad substitute for a second car if you ask me.

How fast can I go? Good question; I don't have a cycle computer. However, after coming down an overpass, I estimate (based on cars passing me) that I can hold 35 mph for a couple of blocks. I think I could do the 3-mile commute in about 20 minutes if I tried, including stopping at red lights -- but I'd be completely sweaty and disgusting all day at work if I did. Usually I take 30 minutes and arrive unruffled.

How far can I go? My longest day so far is about 16 miles. I had sore legs the next day, but no saddle sores. The 'bent has a very comfy seat. I rode noticeably slower to work the rest of that week.

Ask me again in a year, maybe I'll have some real stories to tell.